Basic Course
Unit 1
| I did not say | alalhum |
| I didn't say anything. | mınímmalalhu. /mınímm alalhum. |
Classroom Expressions
| Again! | ındəgəna. |
| Repeat it! | yıdgəmut. |
| correct, exact | lıkk |
| (he, it) is | nəw |
| It's correct. | líkk nəw |
| it is not | aydəlləm |
| It's not correct. | líkk aydəlləm. |
| very, very much | bəTam |
| good | Tıru/Tru |
| It's very good. | bəTam Tırú nəw. |
| Let's have a break ('let us rest'). | ınnırəf. |
Grammatical Notes
Note 1.1 Transcription Used in This Course
This transcription is an attempt to put down systematically on paper the sounds that the instructor will say, or that will be heard on the tapes.
The transcription is based directly on spoken Amharic and is not a transliteration of ordinary Amharic spelling. It is not, strictly speaking, a 'phonetic' transcription. For example, the letter /b/ stands for one sound at the beginning of a phrase or if doubled, and for another sound elsewhere. Since the pronunciation is predictable on the basis of where it occurs, a single letter may be used for both sounds.
The letters and other symbols used are:
| Vowels | ə | u | i | a | e | ı | o | |
| Consonants | paired | unpaired | ||||||
| Voiceless | p | t | k | s | š | c | f h ' | |
| Glottalized | P | T | K | S | C | |||
| Voiced | b | d | g | z | ž | j | r l m n ñ y w | |
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